Dambatta: NCC, Universities Working to Grow Nigeria’s ICT Sector

Dambatta: NCC, Universities Working  to Grow Nigeria’s ICT Sector

Gideon Arinze in Enugu

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), Umar Dambatta, has stated that the commission is working with universities across the country to update their curriculum to reflect the emerging trends in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) world.

Dambatta said this was part of the commission’s moves to achieve indigenous content development and sustained innovation in the Nigerian ICT sector.

He made this known yesterday in Enugu during the South-east region Emerging Technologies Research and ICT Innovation Forum with the theme: ‘Digital Society and Emerging Technologies: Leveraging ICTs to build information and knowledge societies to achieve the National Digital Economy’.

According to him, the telecommunications sector has emerged as a key driver of socio-economic activities, social advancements and innovation globally.

He noted that the disruptions in the ICT also culminated in the federal government’s launching of the National Digital Economy Policy Strategy (NDEPS), to ensure that youths and the entire country benefit and also participate in the innovations that the ICT brings.

Dambatta, who was represented by the Head of Research and Development Communication at the NCC, Kelechi Nwankwo, said the forum was geared towards having Nigerians in the innovative space across the regions to understand where ICT is going.

He said: “The forum affords us the opportunity to engage with the country’s digitally savvy youths and other stakeholders in the tech ecosystem to explore effective ways of promoting indigenous content development and digital adoption as well as innovative services that will foster industry and national growth.”

He maintained that finding innovative ways of unlocking the next frontiers of growth in the sector is a key regulatory focus of the commission which is why the annual ICT innovative forum is strategically important to the commission.

Dambatta noted that the forum supports pillars 5 and 7 of the NDEPS which are focused on digital service development and promotion as well as digital society and emerging technologies.

“The current momentum being witnessed in the Nigerian technology space is attributable to the regulatory approach of the commission which is focused on effective regulation of the telecommunications sector in ways that do not inhibit competition but foster innovation and industry growth,” he said.

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